South Africa national soccer team
| Nickname(s) |
Bafana Bafana ( The Boys or Go Boys Go Boys) |
|---|---|
| Association | South African Football Association |
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) |
| Sub-confederation | COSAFA (Southern Africa) |
| Head coach | Stuart Baxter |
| Captain | Thulani Hlatshwayo |
| Most caps | Aaron Mokoena (107) |
| Top scorer | Benni McCarthy (32) |
| Home stadium | FNB Stadium |
| FIFA code | RSA |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | 64  1 (6 July 2017)
|
| Highest | 16 (August 1996) |
| Lowest | 124 (December 1992) |
| Elo ranking | |
| Current | 61  (7 May 2017)
|
| Highest | 21 (9) (September 1996 (October 1955)) |
| Lowest | 94 (May 2006) |
| First international | |
 South Africa 2–1 Ireland  (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 24 September 1924) |
|
| Biggest win | |
 South Africa 8–0 Australia  (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
 Brazil 5–0 South Africa  (Johannesburg, South Africa; 5 March 2014) |
|
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1998) |
| Best result | Group stage, 1998, 2002 and 2010 |
| Africa Cup of Nations | |
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1996) |
| Best result | Champions, 1996 |
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | |
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2005) |
| Best result | Quarter-finals, 2005 |
| African Nations Championship | |
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2014) |
| Best result | Group stage, 2014 |
| Confederations Cup | |
| Appearances | 2 (first in 1997) |
| Best result | Fourth place, 2009 |
The South Africa men's national football team represents the Republic of South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is FNB Stadium, so named due to a naming rights deal, in Johannesburg. The team is currently under in charge of Stuart Baxter, who was appointed as coach on 5 April 2017. The team's greatest achievement was winning the Africa Cup of Nations at home in 1996.
Having played their first match in 1924, they returned to the world stage in 1992, after 16 years of being banned from FIFA due to the apartheid system. In 2010, South Africa became the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup when it hosted the 19th FIFA World Cup in 2010. The team's Siphiwe Tshabalala was also the first player to score in this World Cup during the opening game against Mexico. Despite defeating France 2–1 in their final game of the Group Stage, they failed to progress from the first round of the tournament, becoming the first host nation in the history of the FIFA World Cup to exit in the group stage.
Football first arrived in South Africa through colonialism in the late nineteenth century, as the game was popular among British soldiers. From the earliest days of the sport in South Africa until the end of apartheid, organised football was affected by the country's system of racial segregation. The all-white Football Association of South Africa (FASA), was formed in 1892, while the South African Indian Football Association (SAIFA), the South African Bantu Football Association (SABFA) and the South African Coloured Football Association (SACFA) were founded in 1903, 1933 and 1936 respectively.
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